Archive for the ‘Telecommunications’ Category

Comcast has proposed to acquire Time Warner Cable for $45.2 billion in stock, in a merger that could have far-reaching implications for the media and communications industry. Comcast hopes the merger will further its longstanding strategy of growing into a broadband and media powerhouse. Critics voice concerns about consolidation of power, and analysts highlight Comcast’s powerful lobbying operation in Washington.

On February 6, 2014, California State Senator Mark Leno introduced Senate Bill 962. The bill would require all smartphones sold in California to be equipped with a “kill switch,” allowing consumers to disable a lost or stolen phone. It aims to deter phone thefts, which account for one in three robberies in the United States. California State Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner said she will carry the bill, if it clears the Senate.

Last month, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (“ACLU”) filed shareholder proposals with Verizon and AT&T to persuade the telecom companies to issue transparency reports disclosing data about customer information that was passed on to the National Security Agency.This new tactic in the privacy fight is designed to highlight what activists say are serious costs associated with the telecom companies’ lack of transparency.